Catia Bastioli, President of Italian Circular Bioeconomy Cluster Spring, talks to Il Bioeconomista. In this exclusive interview with us, she talks about the new EU Bioeconomy Strategy, after its official launch yesterday in Copenhagen organized by the EU Commission and the Danish Presidency of the EU.
“The new Strategy – she says – both in its content and in the context in which it is presented, could be a significant instrument for relaunching European competitiveness, viewing environmental sustainability as a driver of competitiveness.”
According to Bastioli, “the delays accumulated so far are causing Europe to lose its leadership to China and the United States, which have already defined clear strategies for the future of their bio-based manufacturing sectors, following the path originally traced by the EU. There can be no prosperous future without a clear strategic evolution for Europe and without full recognition of the extraordinary value of its territories and their diversity, which form the foundation of the bioeconomy”.
President Bastioli, EU Commission published last Thursday the Communication on the new Bioeconomy Strategy, that was official launched yesterday in Copenhagen. What are your first comments on this?
The new Strategy, both in its content and in the context in which it is presented, could be a significant instrument for relaunching European competitiveness, viewing environmental sustainability as a driver of competitiveness. Compared to the 2012 strategy and the revisions carried out in 2018 and 2022, the focus has shifted toward industrial implementation, market expansion, competitiveness, and resilience.
The document clearly recognizes the strategic role of the bioeconomy in supporting EU prosperity and the need to fully harness the largely untapped potential of bio-based industries. It highlights the importance of scaling up innovation and investment and of creating new lead markets for bio-based materials and technologies. The Strategy focuses on creating demand for bioeconomy products, identifying specific lead markets such as bio-based plastics, textiles, chemicals, construction materials, fertilizers, and plant protection products. Public procurement is identified as a key tool for promoting the use of these products. It is particularly relevant, the reference to existing regulations and the possibility of using the spaces they already provide to introduce concrete measures aligned with the Bioeconomy Strategy starting today.
I refer in particular to the Taxonomy and to the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. In the case of the PPWR, the introduction of bio-based content targets by 2027 represents a concrete and timely opportunity. It is also worth highlighting that Member States currently have the opportunity to allow compostable products to enter sectors that would otherwise be banned (for all types of plastics) by 2030, an option that will no longer be available after August 2026. The delays accumulated so far are causing Europe to lose its leadership to China and the United States, which have already defined clear strategies for the future of their bio-based manufacturing sectors, following the path originally traced by the EU. We cannot afford further delays, especially considering the large number of companies, research centers, territories, and communities that have already invested in the sector in Europe and that are now stuck at the starting line.
There is a new strategy but the Implementation Action Plan is not mentioned. Don’t you see the risk to have another strategy without the hard law that is needed?
Strategies are “soft law,” and on their own they are not sufficient to govern processes. This is why a specific “hard law” is needed. Much of the lack of development in the circular bioeconomy sector is attributable to the absence of adequate governance tools and to the paradoxes generated by applying rules designed to regulate traditional sectors. Consider, for example, biomanufacturing plants, which are currently constrained by traditional chemical regulations despite having the characteristics of agro-industrial facilities. In this context, it is essential that the Strategy be accompanied by an Action Plan that focuses above all on creating synergies with all other key regulatory dossiers, such as the Circular Economy Act, the EU Biotech Act, the Circular Bioeconomy Regulatory Framework, and the implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, as well as the new CAP. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the role of integrated value chains of bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable products and of biomanufacturing in revitalizing Europe’s competitiveness through a regenerative approach. This integrated approach will not only support the development of the sector but also ensure a clear and coherent regulatory environment today, one capable of stimulating innovation and competitiveness over the long term.
How do you see the role of the European Bioeconomy Regulators and Innovators’ Forum that is mentioned in the communication? Is it something really useful?
The creation of a platform to share best practices on new biotechnology-based solutions is certainly a positive step forward to facilitate risk assessment, monitor progress, and promote a culture of continuous innovation among businesses and regulators. In fact, focusing not only on what is already known but also on the evolving and dynamic nature of innovation raises ambitions and enables increasingly challenging goals to be reached collectively. For the Innovators’ Forum, in this perspective, it could be useful to start by mapping the many bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable products developed in the EU and by understanding the challenges they have faced over the years, often due to the lack of recognition of their specific characteristics. This will help consolidate the results achieved and enable new innovations to advance more rapidly by building bridges with traditional sectors.
The strategy aims at identifying and strengthening lead markets. Why a new lead markets initiative is crucial for the Bioeconomy in Europe?
The importance of a new “Lead Markets” initiative for the bioeconomy in Europe can be understood by examining the consequences of its absence. The European Union has already invested significantly in the bioeconomy, thanks to the pivotal role played by the public-private partnership CBE JU, BIC (the Biobased Industries Consortium) and the Commission: over €1.3 billion in 220 projects, involving 1,700 beneficiaries across 45 countries and developing more than 260 new bio-based materials and ingredients. Every euro of public funding has attracted more than three euros in private investments, demonstrating that innovation in the bioeconomy can generate substantial economic and environmental value.
However, Europe is witnessing a shift from certified European renewable products to imported fossil-based products, sometimes even counterfeit ones, with negative repercussions that go beyond environmental concerns. This shift prevents Europe from leveraging its already existing innovative and integrated value chains, which have invested heavily in technology, research, process scale-up, plant construction, and continuous optimization. This situation is in fact slowing down further evolution and investments in the sector. Without a solid regulatory framework, it is impossible to differentiate and highlight the value of European bio-products compared to imported fossil-based products. Despite the ambitious environmental objectives of the Green Deal, without adequate adaptation to the changed scenario, these objectives have not produced the expected economic, social, and technological development, nor the anticipated cultural and social impact.
On the contrary, the multitude of new policies and strategies within the Green Deal, still awaiting effective implementation, combined with a top-down approach and siloed policymaking, have created uncertainty and significantly reduced the competitiveness of entire industrial sectors once led by Europe. Moreover, geopolitical changes, including the war in Ukraine, the growing economic influence of China, and the repositioning of the United States, have only worsened the situation, causing a sharp decline in investments across the sector. Only a Lead Markets Initiative will enable Europe to fully capitalize on these investments, allowing bio-based products to be recognized for their true value and driving the growth of a competitive and sustainable bioeconomy across Europe.
You are one of the promoters of the IFIB 2025 Torino Statement, which was signed by more than 150 leading European Bioeconomy stakeholders. How can this statement become a real guideline for the EU Commission?
The IFIB 2025 Torino Statement represents a collective vision from more than 150 major European bioeconomy stakeholders. Its value lies in the broad support it has received and in its comprehensive perspective, which reflects the needs and aspirations of a wide range of actors and territories. These are industries, associations, academia, research centers, and communities that contribute to the bioeconomy and to its growth across different regions. In the current European context, these organizations are experiencing a significant slowdown in their development and need to be recognized and listened to. The signatories, with their diverse technologies, territorial projects, and products, form a valuable network of knowledge and experience from which to build. My hope is that the Torino Statement can be integrated into strategic discussions and decision-making processes at the European level.
What are the next steps that are now needed to make the bioeconomy one of the main pillars of the European policies?
There can be no prosperous future without a clear strategic evolution for Europe and without full recognition of the extraordinary value of its territories and their diversity, which form the foundation of the bioeconomy. This full recognition must begin by giving proper dignity to the economic and industrial specificities rooted in local territories, through concrete and achievable measures that can guide the transition toward a circular bioeconomy. First and foremost, it is essential to establish appropriate and specific NACE codes for biorefineries, as this would help distinguish and enhance the unique features of our sector, removing some of the obstacles that currently impede the valorization of secondary raw materials.
The contribution of bio-based products should be acknowledged in legislative acts, including through incentives and/or mandatory bio-based content requirements, promoting the integrated European value chains that already exist and are driving significant transformations in production, use, and end-of-life. In this sense, the promotion of bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable products that do not accumulate in soil and water, as well as those that support the collection, treatment and valorization of organic waste, is fundamental to preserving the ecosystem.
To achieve these objectives and protect soils, true anchors of resilience, it will be essential to promote the sustainable use of biomass by defining criteria aligned with those contained in the Renewable Energy Directive, and to support the scale-up of existing industrial technologies, particularly in recovering by-products and co-products from different processing stages, leveraging synergies with the agricultural sector and the power of investment. All these actions are included in the Torino Statement, which can be signed.
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Felice Amori
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Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC)
Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU)
Cluster Spring (Italian Bioeconomy Cluster)
European Commission
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